Bhubaneswar, Nov 28 (IANS): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has criticised the central government for allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector without consulting the states.

"In a federal country like ours, the union government should not have taken such a major policy decision without adequate consultation with the state governments," Patnaik said in a statement.

"As we are aware, the biggest challenge facing the country today is inflation," said the statement released by his office late Sunday.

"Instead of taking immediate steps to tackle this problem, the central government has allowed FDI in a sector which provides employment to seven percent of the workforce of the country.

"This move will only favour the large multinational corporations which will have monopoly over trading... Instead of that, the government should have strengthened the marketing opportunities for farmers and small-scale manufacturers," Patnaik said.

India Thursday allowed global chains like Wal-Mart, Carrefour and 7-Eleven to bring up to 51 percent foreign equity to open multi-brand retail stores and allowed 100-percent equity in single brand format.